G5 Live Performance is weak compared to lower end PC

[thumpmonk]

I have Ableton Live 5.0.2 for Mac and PC. The Mac is a dual 2 Ghz G5 with 2.5 GB of fast RAM (OS 10.3.4). The PC is lower spec in every way but runs Ableton Live far better than the Mac. Using Logic Pro on the Mac I can load plenty of instances of 3rd party plugins without so much as a hiccup (the plugins types are too many to number, but frequently its Native instruments Battery, East West Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra Gold XP, Synful Orchestra, reFX Vanguard and quadraSID). I can load 2 or 3 plugins in Live and then the CPU spikes, I get dropouts, hiccups, crashes and so on.

I use the RME Hammerfall PCI card connected to the RME ADI2 D/A A/D converter straight to my speakers. My digital signal path is very clean, and like I said, it works fine for Logic.

I have tried every setting for audio and plugin buffers. I match what works on the PC, and even try setting things extremely high to the point of unusable latency. Nothing works. I cannot use this program on my Mac, but I need to. I never had these problems with version 4. What happened? What can I do? Any tips?

[jonathono2000]

The weird thing about macs is its like they have a mind of their own. Sometimes they want to cooperate and when they do you wouldn't trade it for a PC in a million years but then other times they make you crazy because while they don't crash or glitch like PCs they have weird anthropomorphic issues that you need a psyciatrist not a tech to figure out. If I let my laptop fall asleep it refuses to wake up unless you disconnect the battery. And nobody on this planet has been able to figure it out and trust me I've tried everyone. All i can say is WTF?

PCs are like dogs - predictably unpredicatble, and Macs are like children - you never know when one is gonna stick its finger in the light socket.

[justin]

- i would start with making sure ur OSX is up to date (10.3.9).
- use an app like "disk utility" or "Onyx" to repair disk permissions.
- then upgrade live to 5.2 (i seem to remember some code fixes for memory leaks)
- try running live using the internal sound card, no outboard gear, no vst plugins.

if it works better after all that, then start adding plugins and sound card.
u might find the problem will re-appear but at least u will have a better idea of wot is causing it.

if this dont make it better then i would recommend a clean OSX install.

on a final note, logic is built around the audio-unit standard, not vst. then you also have to consider that ableton's vst implementation is a bit ropey to say the least... all that means is, you will always get more out of logic preformance-wise than live. especially as far as plugins are concerned!

hope this helps

j

[Machinesworking]

I have Ableton Live 5.0.2 for Mac and PC. The Mac is a dual 2 Ghz G5 with 2.5 GB of fast RAM (OS 10.3.4). The PC is lower spec in every way but runs Ableton Live far better than the Mac.

OK then, what are the specs of the PC? Nobody here has any ability to decipher your situation until we know that. My dual 2.5 G5 runs a respectable 30% on the performance test. Considering live is only using one processor, that's not bad.

[iskandar]

logic is a multi threaded application and written for the Mac live is not...it is clear from all the benchmark tests that your dual G5 is going to run average.

[tomiie]

I'm having the same problems. I have a dual G5 2ghz too with 2.5g ram running the latest version of os x 10.4.6, Live and NI komplete

logic can load up tons of plugins at the same time without so much as a stutter, but if I try and do anything slightly complex in live (5.2) it just can't handle it. Audio chops out, it just starts chugging and then eventually it'll just crash. Pretty much the same problems as the original poster except I'm only using the NI Audio Units.

it's a real shame cos i think the workflow and interface in live is so much better than anything else available, especially logic! but I can't use it to its full extent because of the performance issues.

The weird thing about macs is its like they have a mind of their own. Sometimes they want to cooperate and when they do you wouldn't trade it for a PC in a million years but then other times they make you crazy because while they don't crash or glitch like PCs they have weird anthropomorphic issues that you need a psyciatrist not a tech to figure out. If I let my laptop fall asleep it refuses to wake up unless you disconnect the battery. And nobody on this planet has been able to figure it out and trust me I've tried everyone. All i can say is WTF?

That sucks, I've owned a few powerbooks and desktop macs over the years and I've never had any problems really. Except with an original powerbook g4, but that was after I had put it through quite a bit of abuse. lol. I find usually it's the users fault when something goes wrong on a mac and it's easy to fix. unless its a hardware problem (rare).

I wonder if the new intel macs perform any better with live though? I wish i could afford one to try it out on!

[Pitch Black]

I wonder if the new intel macs perform any better with live though?

The Intel Macs are way, way better with Live. To put it simply, Live eats pure grunt, as in clock-speed. This has made Live MUCH MUCH more efficient on PC over Mac.

Now, after moving to Intel, the Mac/PC difference is negligable, at best.

Check out the figures on AdamJay's Live 5 Performance Test.

...That said, many people report problems with Live 5 on computers of both platforms, where there were no problems with Live 4. But now at least, with the move to Intel, the PC/Mac playing field is level.